Page 27 - English_Spark_5

Soon Anita found herself in a magical place. Around her, the trees were very tall

and provided shade against the hot sun. Funny-looking branches appeared to

come out of the trees and instead of growing towards the air; they grew towards
the ground below! She thought that the fruits were hanging from the trees

just like in a chandelier. The ground below her feet was soft and muddy. Some

birds were nesting a little further away. There were many small and colourful
creatures, which seemed to play hide-and-seek amongst tiny holes in the mud.

Sometimes, they would stop and wave one of their legs at Anita, as if to say ‘Hi’.

She was overwhelmed with joy and wonder at what she saw. She decided to tell

her teacher about the forest the next day at school.

Anita’s teacher was very glad to hear about her experience. She explained to
Anita that the type of trees she had seen were indeed very unique. These trees

grew so close to the sea that they faced the tides every day. Her teacher told

her that the pencil-like things which she saw coming out of the soil were in fact

roots, which were used by the tree to breathe air! The green fruits hanging
from the trees were in fact young plants themselves called ‘propagules’. The

teacher also told her that the strange branches that appeared to grow towards

the ground were actually roots that were used by the tree for support. The trees
were so strong that they could grow in places that experience heavy storms.

Not only that, the trees could also withstand salt water unlike any other trees

and could grow where the ground was flooded with water.

The teacher called these unique trees ‘mangroves’. The colourful creatures

that Anita had seen were crabs. Mangroves provide shelter and food to a large
number of other organisms like fish, shells, crabs and birds. Hearing all this,

Anita became even more excited. She visited the area often, sometimes inviting

her parents and friends to come with her and enjoy the natural wonder called
mangroves.

chandelier — a decorative light which hangs from ceilings and has several branches
for holding bulbs or, especially in the past, candles; overwhelmed — feeling a
sudden strong emotion; propagules — a structure that give rise to new plant (a

bed); mangroves — a tree that grows in wet land and have roots above the ground

English-5 27